I’ve seen Dune lots of times, and I’ve read the book a couple of times, but I don’t remember anything that explains the gesturing De Vries often does while speaking. Is there a canonical reason for this, or was it just Dourif Acting?
Just acting, I’m sure.
Actors will often base a character’s mannerisms on observed behaviors of people in their lives, or even complete strangers at the mall. He may have seen someone doing something like that, and thought it worked well for his characterization of de Vries.
I didn’t realize this thread was as recent as it is, but I’ll go ahead and apologize for resurrecting it anyway.
The reason I’m doing so, though, is because I have not only an answer but the answer, obtained directly from Brad Dourif himself this past weekend at Dragon*Con. I asked him about the gestures, and I asked him which side of the camera the idea came from.
It’s acting, and it was all him.
He said that playing De Vries was a challenge, specifically as to finding a way to present the character’s massive intellect so that it comes across on screen. He decided that the way he would do it would be to show the character speaking two languages, one verbal and one gestural.
He also claimed to have suggested that Lynch go ahead and film the sequel to Dune while they had all the people and all the sets and everything ready to go, but in spite of this, I think he’s a pretty good guy. 
They were pretty clearly looking for things to make the appearance and actions of the various characters and types in Dune memorable and interesting. You can see a lot of that in the Lynch version – arguably too much of it. Herbert describes the sapphoo-stained lips of the mentats, but he or his designers decided to add the uber-Andy Rooney bushy eyebrows as well, and, per KneadtoKnow’s excellent post, Brad Dourif added the distinctive hand gestures*.
But he went overboard with ALL the Harkonnens being red-haired, and with having Terminal Acne as an external sign of the Baron’s corruption. You don’t have to make it THAT obvious, fer cryin’ out loud!
*(Not unusual, that – I suspect that writers and directors don’t fully appreciate body language, while actors know it very well, and try to work it in. Leonard Nimoy has stated that he kept working in ways for his Vulcan character to be visibly more tactile than humans, and that a lot of his suggestions and efforts eventually got picked up and worked into the character – the Vulcan salute, the “nerve pinch”, the “Death Grip”, and so on. Mark Lenard got into it, too, being able to do the salute and “Holding Fingers” with Jane Wyman rather than holding hands in the “Journey to Babel” episode.)
Boy, did I misread that phrase! (blushes)
Er … topic … I’ve loved Brad Dourif ever since seeing him in Star Trek: Voyager. His fascinating performance as Suder the psychotic Bajoran was the only thing that kept me watching that show, in hopes Suder would show up again. Sadly, he did … all too briefly.
It’s a shame he’s been typecast. I’d like to see him in more roles that don’t involve his being a creepy lunatic. (Never had a chance to see Deadwood, so I don’t know if his character was true to form or broke the Dourif mold.)
Thanks for the cool tidbit, KneadtoKnow!
I think it did break the mold, he was certainly concerned about his patients during the show from what I remember. The character was haunted, IIRC, from experiences of the US Civil War, so he wasn’t creepy, just a sort of broken man inside. Heck of a memorable line too, shutting up one of Al’s whores with the quip “When y’laugh, y’leak piss.”
The TV series of Dune had the guys from the Guild acting in overdrive with their little gestures every time they spoke. Like Dourif, but almost dancing. I liked that little touch that Dourif gave the character, it made it feel like he was bursting to let forth a torrent of intellect, but had to throttle it back for the Harkonnens.
Brad Dourif was one of the best things about Deadwood, and that’s saying a lot. The doctor was one of the most interesting characters in the show; one of the few people who could be in a scene with Ian McShane and not get completely upstaged.
He was quite good in an episode of Babylon 5 as a soft spoken, pacifist monk.
Okay, he turned out to be a soft spoken, pacifist monk with a terrible, terrible secret. But he was definitly playing against type for the duration of the show.
Thanks for the info about Deadwood, guys. Dourif does tortured really well, so I can imagine him kicking ass in such a role. So it sounds like he was actually not a psychopath in this one? I should check it out at some point.
Of course he also did a fab job as serial killer Luther Boggs (I think that was the name) on The X-Files. He’s certainly the go-to guy whenever a creepy killer role crops up.
No, he’s not a psychopath at all - it’s a very sympathetic character. He’s a prickly guy who saw a bit too much in the war, I think.
I always thought that was supposed to be Space-Syphillis.
From what I recall of the books;
he was infected by a Bene Gesserit witch who tried to seduce him into procreating. When she came back for more, he raped her and she poisoned him in return.
Dourif has often played psychos. My favorite role of his was Brother Edward, in the Babylon 5 season three episode “Passing Through Gethsemane”
He was a gentle, sensitive Catholic monk in that one. Who, uh, happened to find out he’d been mindwiped as punishment for the serial murders he’d committed. He was ashamed when he made the discovery, thinking he couldn’t be forgiven because he didn’ t know all the sins he may have committed. But his superior, Brother Theo assured him “If you ask God to forgive your sins, He knows what they are, even if you’ve forgotten. Leave it in His hands.” That’s one of my favorite lines out of the whole series.
I don’t know, ya really want to stick with that story Mr. Dourif?
Given that the novels specifically mention both a spoken and gestural battle language that was specific to each great house?
CMC +fnord!
Kinda reminds me of Anthony Hopkins claiming that he came up with the physical appearance for Hannibal Lecter all by himself (and the fact that his Lecter looks remarkably like Brian Cox’s (same slicked back hair, same white T-Shirt) is pure coincidence).
